VY?  . o yvv 

Unman  Unin^r  ttfp 

lEtljntr  SMtgtmtH 


MRS.  MOSES  SMITH 


Chicago,  III. 

WOMAN’S  BOARD  OF  MISSIONS  OF  THE  INTERIOR 
(Congregational) 

Room  523,  40  Dearborn  Street 
1910 


Woman  Un3er  tfte 

EtBmc  Reficporxs 

BY 

MRS.  MOSES  SMITH 

The  Third  Edition.  Revised. 


The  most  interesting  thing  about  any 
man  is  his  religion.  — Thomas  Carlyle. 


Chicago,  III. 

WOMAN’S  BOARD  OF  MISSIONS  OF  THE  INTERIOR 
(Congregational) 

Room  523,  40  Dearborn  Street 
1910 


Price,  Five  Cents  per  Copy. 


I 


Colossal  Buddha  at  Kamakura,  Japan 


Woman  Under  the  Ethnic  Religions. 


BY  MRS.  MOSES  SMITH. 


WITHOUT  question  religion  is  the  supreme  force  in 
history.  Religion  touches  the  secret  springs  of 
human  life,  creates  ideals  and  shapes  the  char- 
acter of  mankind. 

In  the  order  of  nature  the  worshiper  becomes  like 
the  being  worshiped.  “As  a man  thinketh  in  his  heart, 
so  is  he.”  The  world  has  known  many  religions,  some 
of  them  eminent  for  the  tremendous  power  with  which 
they  have  held  millions  in  their  sway  over  centuries  of 
time;  eminent  also  for  profound  philosophy,  lofty 
ideals,  and  sometimes  a high  morality.  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  gave  us  the  test  for  Himself  and  His  teaching: 
“By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.”  The  conditions 
of  society,  temporal  and  spiritual,  are  the  fruits  by 
which  any  religious  system  may  be  judged. 

The  study  of  Comparative  Religions  is  one  of  pro- 
found interest.  When  pursued  with  the  purpose  to 
know  the  truth  and  the  whole  truth,  it  is  of  great  serv- 


4 


ice  to  mankind.  As  heralds  of  our  Lord’s  messages,* 
“And  I,  if  I be  lifted  up  will  draw  all  men  unto  me,”orf 
“Look  unto  Me  and  be  ye  saved  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth,”  it  is  wise  for  us  to  know  not  only  the  needs  of 
the  people  but  the  religious  forces  which  have  brought 
truth  or  error  into  every  tissue  of  thought  and  action. 

In  the  nature  of  things  the  factor  that  most  univer- 
sally moulds  society  is  woman.  “The  boy  is  father  of 
the  man,  but  the  woman  is  mother  of  the  boy,”  hence 
the  study  of  the  teaching  of  any  religion  concerning 
woman,  and  of  her  character  and  place  in  society  as  the 
result  of  that  religion,  is  vital  both  to  the  correct  un- 
derstanding of  the  system  and  of  what  it  has  wrought 
for  the  world. 

THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA. 

„ . . The  most  venerable  and  possibly  the 

Brahmanism.  . ' 

most  powerful  Ethnic  religion  is  Brah- 
manism. Rising  in  India  when  that  was  the  land  of 
literature  and  art,  the  home  of  the  cultured  Aryans, 
for  fifteen  centuries  this  religion  wrought  unhindered 
on  the  people.  At  first  a simple  nature  worship,  it 


* John  12:32.  tlsaiah  45:22. 


5 


degenerated  into  a pantheon  in  which  all  the  powers 
of  nature  were  gods.  On  this  was  built  a sacer- 
dotalism with  caste  and  idol  worship.  It  became 
an  oppressive  tyranny.  At  this  juncture,  500  years 
before  Christ,  a new  and  forcible  factor  entered 
the  life  of  the  people  in  the  birth  of  a king’s  son. 
Gautama  Buddha,  known  in  history  as  the  great  Re- 
former of  Brahmanism.  I have  not  time  to  speak  of 
the  fierce  theological  war  that  ensued  (400  years),  or 
of  the  bright  coup  d’etat  of  the  Brahmans  in  finally  ac- 
cepting Buddha  as  the  ninth  incarnation  of  Vishnu. 

„ , ,,  . Each  of  these  systems  evinces  profound 

thought  and  lofty  ideals,  Buddhism  a 
high  morality.  Each  contains  elements  of  truth,  and 
each  has  been  a tremendous  power  in  the  history 
of  the  race.  Striving  for  supremacy  on  the  same 
field,  the  result  was  a coalition.  Together  they 
enter  the  stream  of  history  under  the  name  of  Hin- 
duism. The  time  lias  been  long  enough,  the  field 
favorable  and  broad  enough  for  the  completest  results, 
and  the  present  condition  of  society  in  India  affords  an 
opportunity  to  see  the  fruits. 

Sir  Monier  Williams,  the  distinguished  Sanscrit 
scholar  of  Oxford,  says:  “Although  India  in  the  early 


6 


periods  of  Brahmanism  was  a land  of  literature  and 
science,  the  present  characteristics  are  poverty,  ignor- 
ance and  superstition.  Whatever  profound  thoughts 
lay  about  the  roots  of  Hinduism,  it  held  and  still  holds 
the  280,000,000  of  India  in  the  bondage  of  degradation, 
cruelty  and  immorality.”  “The  average  income  per 
individual  is  less  than  that  of  any  other  civilized  coun- 
try, barely  $13.50  per  year,  against  $20  even  for  the 
Turks,  $165  for  every  Englishman,  and  $200  for  every 
man,  woman  and  child  in  the  United  States.”*  Dr. 
John  Short.  Surgeon  General  of  India,  long  resident 
among  the  people  says:  “Wherever  the  Hindu  religion 
predominates,  there  immorality  and  debauchery  run 
riot.” 


Teachings. 


The  Code  of  Mann  is  the  highest  relig- 
ious authority  among  the  Hindus.  You 
ask  a Hindu  about  the  date  and  age  of  his  great 
law-giver  and  he  quickly  replies,  “He  was  a son 
of  the  self-existent  Brahm.  ” Manu’s  whole  teach- 
ing about  woman  is  based  on  the  assumption  of 
her  impurity.  For  instance,  a Brahman  is  enjoined 
“to  suspend  reading  the  Veda  if  a woman  comes 
in  sight.”  Her  ear  is  not  pure  enough  to  hear  what. 


'Rev.  N.  G.  Clark,  D.  D. 


7 


the  vilest  man  may  read.  “Though  unobservant  of  ap- 
proved usage,  or  enamoured  of  another  woman,  or  de- 
void of  good  qualities,  yet  a husband  must  constantly 
be  revered  as  a god  by  a virtuous  wife.”f 

“Let  the  wife  who  wishes  to  perform  sacred  obla- 
tion wash  the  feet  of  her  husband  and  drink  the  water, 
for  the  husband  is  to  the  wife  greater  than  Vishnu.” 
Again,  “Women  have  no  business  with  the  text  of  a 
sacred  book,  and  having  no  evidence  of  law,  and  no 
knowledge  of  expiatory  texts,  sinful  women  must  be 
foul  as  falsehood  itself,  and  this  is  a fixed  rule.”*  And 
it  has  remained  fixed  for  forty-three  centuries. 

„ , . The  modern  Brahmans  like  to  claim 

Seclusion. 

that  the  present  custom  of  immuring 
their  wives  in  prison-like  rooms  had  its  origin  in 
Mohammedan  invasion.  This  is  certainly  not  the  whole 
truth,  for  in  the  unalterable  law  of  Manu,  written 
900  years  before  Christ,  Ave  read,  “A  woman  is  not 
allowed  to  go  out  of  the  house  without  the  consent 
of  her  husband,  she  may  not  laugh  without  a veil 
over  her  face  or  look  out  of  a door  or  a window.  ”f 

tDharma  Sastra,  chap.  5,  page  154. 

*Dharma  Sastra,  chap.  5,  pages  155,  15(1. 

1 Wilkins’  Modern  Hinduism,  page  32(1. 


8 


“It  may  be  that  when  the  Mohammedans  came,  some 
fifteen  centuries  after  these  laws  had  been  in  force, 
they  put  the  crown  on  the  arch  already  waiting  for 
them.  They  may  have  tightened  the  chains  by  which 
woman  was  already  enslaved,”  but  the  teachings  of 
Mann  are  sufficient  to  account  for  all  we  see  in  India 
to-day. 

.. , The  people  of  the  Western  World  have 
long  wondered  why  the  Hindus  were 
so  tenacious  of  their,  to  us.  revolting  customs  of  child 
marriage.  It  is  only  when  we  learn  that  it  is  not 
simply  a custom  but  a part  of  their  religion  that 
we  apprehend  the  reason.  The  sacred  laws  of  the 
Hindu  declare:  “If  a daughter  is  married  at  the 
age  of  six.  the  father  is  certain  to  ascend  to  the 
highest  heaven.  If  the  daughter  is  not  married  be- 
fore seven,  the  father  will  only  reach  the  second 
heaven.  If  a daughter  is  not  married  until  the  age  of 
len,  the  father  can  only  attain  the  lowest  place  as- 
signed the  blest.  If  a girl  is  not  married  until  she  is 
eleven  years  of  age.  all  her  progenitors  for  six  genera- 
tions will  suffer  pain  and  penalties.”*  When  an  effort 
was  made  to  induce  the  Government  to  raise  the  legal 


* Women  of  the  Orient,  pnge  135. 


9 


age  of  marriage  to  twelve  years,  great  excitement  pre- 
vailed. The  Brahmans  set  apart  days  of  fasting  and 
prayer.  Multitudes  came  in  processions  to  the  temples, 
in  some  cases  beating  their  breasts  and  calling  aloud  to 
the  gods  to  spare  them  from  such  calamity. 

The  discussion  of  the  Indian  sacred  books  as  to  the 
marriageable  age  of  girls  is  too  vile  to  be  quoted.f 
The  worst  feature  of  the  system  of  child  marriage 
is  seen  among  the  Kulin  Brahmans,  the  highest  of  all. 
Girls  in  these  families  must  not  marry  into  a lower 
caste,  and  the  supply  of  Kulins  is  limited,  so  fathers 
who  have  not  money  to  induce  some  young  men  to  mar- 
ry their  daughters,  are  compelled  to  give  their  little 
girls  to  those  who  make  a living  by  being  husbands. 
Thus  a child  of  twelve  may  be  given  as  the  fortieth  or 
fiftieth  wife  of  some  old  man.  Although  it  is  certain 
she  will  soon  be  a widow,  even  that  is  preferable  to  al- 
lowing her  to  remain  unmarried. 

Infanticide  “The  code  of  Mann  forbids  a woman 
to  read  the  scripture  or  offer  prayer 
by  herself.  She  is  to  have  no  individuality.  She 
exists  only  in  her  father  or  her  husband : without 
a husband  she  is  soulless.”  This  doctrine  bears  its 

"Dennis’  Social  Progress  and  Christian  Missions. 


10 


legit imate  fruit  in  the  custom  of  murdering  infant 
girls.  It  is  easy  reasoning,  that  it  is  better  to  murder 
a soulless  child  than  not  to  he  able  to  betroth  her  and 
so  bring  disgrace  on  the  whole  family. 

.....  “The  Hindu  sacred  books  reach  their 

Widows. 

climax  of  cruelty  in  the  requirements 
concerning  the  widow.  She  may  have  only  been  a 
betrothed  infant  or  a child  of  a few  years.  It  makes 
no  difference.”  The  Shasters  teach  that  if  a widow 
burns  herself  alive  on  the  funeral  pile  of  her  hus- 
band, even  though  lie  had  killed  a Brahman,  that 
most  heinous  of  deeds,  she  expiates  the  crime.  For 
long  centuries  widows  have  been  a literal  burnt  offer- 
ing for  the  redemption  of  husbands.  The  English 
Government  has  prohibited  the  suttee,  but  being  con- 
sidered by  the  family  as  one  rejected  of  the  gods, 
the  widow’s  life  is  such  a degradation,  such  a sor- 
row. it  would  seem  merciful  to  let  her  die.  Mann 
wrote,  “Let  not  a widow  ever  pronounce  the  name  of 
another  man.  for  by  remarriage  she  brings  disgrace  on 
herself  here  below,  and  shall  be  excluded  from  the  seat 
of  her  Lord.”  To-day  in  India  under  the  Hindu  re- 
ligion the  widow  may  not  take  food  more  than  once  in 
the  day.  She  must  go  without  food  and  water  for 


11 


forty-eight  hours  tAvice  in  the  month.  At  a meeting  of 
the  highest  religious  court  a few  years  ago  it  was 
gravely  decreed  that,  if  acting  on  medical  advice,  a 
Avidow  did  sometimes  take  a little  water  on  fast  day. 
the  offense  might  be  condoned.  O.  the  burning  pathos 
of  the  Hindu  widow’s  prayer:  ‘‘0  God.  let  no  more 

women  be  born  in  this  land.”*  India  has  now  26,000,- 
000  of  AvidoAvs,  nearly  100,000  of  them  under  nine  years 
and  400,000  under  fifteen  years. 


called  in  the  World’s  Parliament  of  Religions  “conse- 
crated prostitution”  of  the  Nautch  or  dancing  girls  in 
the  temples.  The  subject  is  too  delicate  and  too  horrible 
to  be  spoken  of  in  detail,  but  as  it  is  a much  hon- 
ored part  of  this  religion  it  cannot  be  omitted.  The 
Brahmans  claim  that  it  is  a most  sacred  service, 
having  its  origin  in  prehistoric  ages  in  a promise 
made  by  Vishnu  himself.  In  a feAV  Avords  the  reason 
and  method  is  this:  Parents  who  haATe  a son  Arery  ill 

Avill  vow  to  some  god  that  if  the  son’s  life  is  spared 
they  will  consecrate  a little  girl  to  the  temple:  or  the 


The  Nautch 
Girl. 


Hinduism  reaches  its  loAvest  depths  in 
the  degradation  of  woman  in  what  the 
enlightened  Hindu,  Mr.  Mozoomdar, 


Rev,  John  P.  Jones,  D.  D, 


12 


parents  believing  that  honor  or  wealth  will  be  the  re- 
sult, consecrate  a girl  to  the  god;  or  the  Brahmans 
select  the  most  beautiful  little  girls,  the  parents  rejoic- 
ing in  the  religious  honor. 

From  the  hour  of  consecration  the  little  thing  is 
treated  with  peculiar  respect.  She  alone  of  the  girls 
of  the  family  is  taught  to  read.  When  she  becomes  ten 
or  twelve  years  old.  her  father,  mother  and  nearest 
relatives  take  her  to  the  great  temple.  They  go  with 
the  priest  into  the  inner  shrine.  The  girl  places  her 
hand  into  the  god’s  hand,  the  priest  repeats  certain 
prayers  and  charms.  He  then  hangs  a string  of  cowrie 
shells  around  the  girl’s  neck  and  the  poor  little  thing 
repeats  after  him  her  marriage  vow.  which  vow  is  to 
prostitute  herself  to  any  pilgrim  to  the  shrine  who  de- 
mands it.*  The  position  of  these  religious  prostitutes 
in  Hindu  society  is  so  highly  respectable  that  no  festi- 
val or  wedding  is  celebrated  without  their  presence. 
They  are  asked  to  tie  the  wifely  ornaments  on  the  neck 
of  the  bride.  They  being  married  to  a god  can  never 
be  widowed  and  their  touch  is  lucky.  In  elegant  attire 
with  costly  jewels  and  perfumes,  charmingly  graceful, 
they  lead  their  wretched  lives,  bring  great  sums  into 

‘Prof,  T.  M,  Lindsay,  University  of  Glasgow, 


13 


the  treasury  of  the  temple,  and,  as  they  are  religiously 
taught,  accumulate  a store  of  blessings  for  themselves 
in  a future  state.  John  Short,  M.  D.,  Surgeon  General 
of  India,  Member  of  Anthropological  Society,  London, 
says:  “The  Nautch  girl  is  recognized  and  patronized 
by  the  Hindu  religion.” 

There  was  a time  in  this  fair  eastern  land  when 
women  were  in  a position  of  respect  similar  to  that 
among  the  ancient  Hebrews.  Husband  and  wife  were 
equal  in  all  domestic,  social  and  religious  life.  “The 
Brahmans  have  themselves  preserved  the  record  of 
women  engaging  in  philosophical  discussions,  and  dis- 
concerting their  most  celebrated  doctors  by  the  depths 
of  their  objections.”*  Some  of  the  Yedic  hymns  were 
composed  by  women.  By  degrees  the  condition  of 
woman  has  deteriorated  until  by  the  law  of  their  re- 
ligion she  is  “now  consigned  to  a degradation  probably 
without  a parallel  in  the  history  of  the  race.”  It  is 
true,  Buddha,  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ,  taught 
that  men  and  women  were  equal,  but  even  his  influence 
was  never  strong  enough  to  reform  the  Brahmanical 
laws  about  women.  The  Hindus  have  a saying:  “Edu- 
cation is  good,  as  milk  is  good,  but  milk  given  to  a 

*J.  Murray  Mitchell,  LL.  D. 


14 


snake  becomes  venom,  and  education  given  to  a woman 
becomes  poison.” 

The  following  is  from  the  pen  of  Rudyard  Kipling 
whose  study  of  Indian  life  gives  weight  to  his  opinions 
of  present  social  conditions:  “The  matter  of  this  coun- 
try is  not  political  but  an  all  around  entanglement  of 
physical,  social  and  moral  evils  and  corruptions.  All 
more  or  less  due  to  the  unnatural  treatment  of  women. 
You  cannot  gather  tigs  from  thistles.  So  long  as  the 
system  of  infant  marriage,  the  life  of  long  imprison- 
ment of  wives  in  a worse  than  penal  confinement  and 
withholding  education  and  treatment  as  rational  beings 
continues,  the  country  cannot  advance  a step.  Half  of 
it  is  morally  dead  and  worse  than  dead  and  that  is  the 
half  we  ought  to  be  able  to  look  to  for  our  best  im- 
pulses. The  foundations  of  their  life  are  beastly  rot- 
ten.” 

A quotation  from  the  personal  experience  of  Prof. 
T.  M.  Lindsay,  D.  I)..  so  pertinently  sums  up  the  Hindu 
creed  about  women  that  I quote  it.  “1  remember  ask- 
ing a learned  Vedantist.  who  had  spent  two  days  in 
teaching  me  something  about  his  belief — a man  who 
had  read  Spinoza.  Berkeley  and  Hegel — whether  he 
could  give  me  any  definite  proposition  which  all  the 


15 


people  who  were  Hindus  could  accept.  He  very  readily 
said.  ‘That  woman  is  a wicked  animal.  That  the  cow  is 
a holy  animal.'”  Xo  brilliant  presentation  of  Yedic 
learning,  no  poetic  picture  of  Brahman  or  Buddhist 
philosophy  heard  in  the  World’s  Parliament  of  Reli- 
gions,  will  prevent  the  world  from  arraigning  Hindu- 
ism for  cherishing,  in  the  sacred  name  of  religion,  the 
grossest  vices,  and  basely  degrading  woman  and  all  so 
ciety.  “By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.” 

THE  RELIGIONS  OF  CHINA. 

In  the  Empire  of  China,  under  a government  dis- 
tinguished for  its  stability  and  justness,  among  a peo- 
ple spoken  of  before  Christ  as  “Those  who  dwell 
apart.”  and  known  from  the  time  of  Ptolemy  as  .just, 
mild,  frugal  and  industrious,  comprising  one-fourth  the 
human  race:  three  religions  of  confessed  power,  not  as 
rivals,  but  as  co-ordinate  and  supplemental,  have  for 
many  centuries  sought  to  solve  the  problem  of  life, 
death  and  immortality. 

„ r . . The  time  has  been  long  enough,  the 

Confucianism. 

conditions  favorable  for  a perfect  ex- 
periment. Confucianism,  the  oldest  of  the  three, 
gave  what  is  probably  the  best  code  of  morals  man 


Chinese  Woman  Unbinding  Her  Foot 
Bound  feet  are  a painful  part  of  the  life  of  a majority  of  Chinese  women 


17 


ever  gave  to  men.  The  late  Dr.  Legge,  professor 
of  Chinese  in  the  University  of  Oxford,  says:  “Con- 

fucius saw  the  terrible  wretchedness  of  his  people 
and  set  himself  to  find  a remedy.  Yet  to  the  one  prin- 
cipal cause  of  the  misery  of  the  masses,  polygamy  and 
the  low  social  condition  of  women,  he  gave  no  thought.” 
In  his  treatise  on  human  relations,  in  that  of  husband 
and  wife,  he  regards  the  wife  as  the  servant  of  the  hus- 
band and  enjoins  absolute  obedience.  During  all  these 
forty-three  centuries,  while  Confucius  has  done  much 
for  good  government  and  has  set  some  high  moral 
standards  for  men.  women  have  reaped  no  benefit  from 
the  teachings  of  the  Sage. 

*“Man  is  the  representative  of  heaven 
and  supreme  in  all  things.  Woman  is 
to  yield  obedience  to  the  man’s  in- 
struction. She  is  subject  to  three  rules  of  obedience. 
When  a child  she  must  obey  her  father ; when  married 
obey  her  husband ; when  widowed  she  must  give  obedi- 
ence to  her  son.  Woman  has  no  understanding.  She 
can  determine  nothing  of  herself.” 

“Beyond  the  threshold  of  her  own  apart- 
ment she  should  not  he  known  for 
evil  or  for  good.” 


Family  Sayings 
of  Confucius. 


Seclusion. 


•Bethany  Worlds  Religions. 


18 


. The  customs  and  principles  of  marriage 

Marriage.  1 

among  any  people  are  the  exponents 

of  woman’s  place  in  the  social  scale.  Chinese  women 
are  bought  and  sold  in  marriage.  The  wife  is  for- 
ever subject  to  her  husband  and  his  parents;  only 
when  she  becomes  the  mother  of  sons  does  she  re- 
ceive the  respect  of  the  family.  Divorce  is  prac- 
tically at  the  pleasure  of  the  husband,  or  he  may  sell 
her  to  another  man.  Undesired  at  birth,  liable  to 
be  sold  while  a child  for  prostitution,  never  educated, 
her  low  estate  naturally  leads  to  the  crime  of  infanti- 
cide. Little  wonder  that  they  innocently  ask,  “Why 
save  the  life  of  a girl?” 

„ . Lao-tsze  was  the  founder  of  Taoism, 

Taoism. 

a religion  of  no  little  power  in  China, 
lie  made  no  effort  to  elevate  the  people  and  his  re- 
ligious system  does  not  recognize  the  existence  of 
woman. 

What  to-day  is  the  place  of  this  vast  Empire  among 
the  nations?  The  combined  forces  of  these  three  re- 
ligions working  for  twenty-three  centuries  upon  one- 
fourth  of  the  human  race  has  shed  no  light  on  the  two 
great  foci,  the  family  into  which  every  human  being 
is  born,  and  that  immortality  to  which  every  mortal 


19 


soul  aspires.  Nor  has  any  single  ray  of  light  emanated 
for  the  enlightenment  of  the  other  three-fourths  of 
mankind.  Alas,  a nation  cannot  rise  higher  than  its 
mothers. 

Much  vaunted,  “gentle  Buddha,”  gives 
Buddhism.  . 

to  the  women  of  China  one  only  hope. 

Through  its  doctrine  of  transmigration  of  souls,  it 
is  possible  that  through  obedience  to  her  husband 
and  his  relatives,  and  the  birth  of  a son,  she  may 
in  some  future  aeon  have  the  happiness  of  being  re- 
turned to  this  world  a man.  If  a man  commits  a 
crime  he  may  be  returned  to  earth  a woman.  The 
one  fervent  prayer  of  the  women  as  they  crowd  the 
Buddhist  temple  is,  that  they  may  be  returned  to 
earth  as  men.  When  the  women  apply  to  the  priests 
for  instruction  they  are  told,  “When  you  die  your  soul 
will  pass  into  the  land  of  spirits  where  it  may  remain 
ages  before  it  is  allowed  to  return  to  earth  and  inhabit 
the  body  of  a man.  You  will  need  money  to  pay  toll  on 
the  bridges,  and  you  must  fee  the  ferryman,  especially 
the  lily  boat  to  cross  the  lake  of  blood.”*  (This  fee  is 
$30.)  ' 

One  of  the  saddest  sights  the  writer  saw  in  China 

•China  and  the  Chinese,  Rev.  J.  L.  Nevius. 


20 


was  in  a large  temple  in  Foochow.  A pool  of  filthy 
stagnant  water  typified  this  lake.  A group  of  sad-faced 
women  were  throwing  cakes  and  other  things  into  the 
water  for  the  use  of  those,  who  having  died  in  child- 
birth. are  forever  imprisoned  in  the  lake.  A light 
framework  surrounded  the  water:  on  the  post  at  one 
corner  was  a fierce-faced  stone  image,  a watchman  on 
the  wall,  with  a stone  hammer  in  his  uplifted  right 
hand.  That  uplifted  hammer  was  the  assurance  that 
no  soul  would  ever  escape. 

The  priests  claim  to  have  open  communication  with 
the  spirit  land  and  their  drafts  are  honored  there.  In 
one  part  of  the  temple  these  drafts  are  sold,  the  priests 
placing  the  seal  of  the  Temple  on  them.  Of  the  $400.- 
000.000  given  for  idol  worship  in  China,  at  least  seven- 
eighths  is  given  by  women  and  three-fourths  of  that  by 
women  too  pool’  to  obtain  enough  of  even  the  coarsest 
food. 

Even  in  fair  and  fascinating  Japan  where  there  is 
less  of  evident  grossness  than  in  other  eastern  lands  one 
finds  “the  trail  of  the  serpent  is  over  them  all.” 

Shintoism,  the  primal  cult  of  the  Jap- 
anese. has  no  system  of  morals  and  takes 


Shintoism. 


21 


little  or  no  notice  of  woman’s  existence.  That  silence 
is  significant  of  the  estimate  of  woman. 

....  About  the  vear  552  of  the  Christian 

Buddhism. 

era.  Buddhism  entered  the  Mikado’s  em- 
pire. and  after  a thousand  years  of  struggle  with 
Shintoism,  gained  supremacy. 

While  Japanese  women  are  not  so  pitiably  de- 
graded as  in  India  or  China,  we  read  in  their  book  of 
“Instruction  for  Woman.”  "Woman  is  the  creature  of 
man."  “A  woman’s  husband  is  her  God."  Concu- 
binage. "divorce  if  the  wife  is  not  obedient  to  her  hus- 
band's parents.”  or  is  unkind  to  a concubine,  and  the 
selling  of  young  daughters  for  prostitution,  tell  the 
story. 

The  Japanese  Buddhist  Bible  teaches  that  “the  sins 
of  three  thousand  of  the  worst  men  all  together  do  not 
equal  the  sins  of  one  woman."  Unconsciously  this  se- 
vere arraignment  of  the  wickedness  of  woman  is  in 
fact  a great  tribute  to  her  power  for  good  or  evil.  Even 
in  "Buddhism’s  best  Gospel"  among  the  articles  given 
by  Buddha  himself  we  find  only  this  negative  hope. 
"Although  a woman  may  not  be  born  into  My  Country, 
yet  the  woman  who  hears  the  name  of  Amida  Buddha, 
and  is  excited  thereby  to  the  hatred  of  the  condition  of 


22 


woman,  and  an  earnest  longing  for  the  salvation  of  oth- 
ers. shall  not  he  re-born  as  a woman.”* 

For  this  crumb  of  comfort  Japanese  women  are  de- 
voted to  the  worship  of  Buddha.  The  timbers  of  the 
great  Honguanji  temple  building  in  Kyoto  said  to  cost 
three  million  dollars,  were  all  hauled  to  the  ground  and 
raised  into  the  structure  by  ropes  made  of  hair  which 
250,000  devoted  women  cut  off  and  sent  for  this  pur- 
pose as  an  offering  to  Buddha. 

About  the  Seventeenth  Century  A.  D.,  Chinese  schol- 
ars fleeing  from  China  because  they  would  not  yield  to 
the  Tartar  Manchu  or  wear  a que.  brought  Confucian- 
ism into  Japan.  This  teaching  became  a great  power 
among  the  people.  But  this  teaching  brought  no  up- 
lift to  Japanese  women  but  even  tightened  the  bonds 
of  her  shame  in  the  “sale  of  daughters  for  ‘Filial  Pie- 
ty’s’ sake  to  the  shambles  of  lust.”* 

Among  the  Ainu,  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the 
Island  of  Yesso,  the  women  do  not  worship  the  gods, 
even  separately.  “The  reason  commonly  given  among 
them  is,  that  the  men  fear  the  prayers  of  the  women  in 
general,  and  of  their  wives  in  particular.”! 

•Muripapiu  Byo.  Luhhavati  Sutrasi. 

‘William  Elliott  Griffis’  “The  Religions  of  Japan.” 
tRev,  John  Bachelor,  Church  Missionary  Society. 


23 


MOHAMMEDANISM. 

There  are  few  more  pathetic  scenes  in  history  than 
the  casting  out  of  Hagar  and  Ishmael  from  the  poly- 
gamous home  of  Abraham.  “Sarah  said  unto  Abraham, 
cast  out  this  bond-woman  and  her  son.  for  the  son  of  the 
bond-woman  shall  not  inherit  with  my  son,  even  Isaac.” 
“Abraham  rose  up  early  in  the  morning  and  took  bread 
and  a bottle  of  water”  and  gave  it  unto  Hagar  and  her 
child  “and  sent  them  away.”  The  picture  is  realistic; 
that  erect,  well  poised  figure,  with  the  bottle  on  her 
shoulder,  that  dark  Egyptian  face  with  chiseled  lines  of 
sorrow,  illuminated  now  with  righteous  anger,  as  she 
gives  one  last  haughty  look  toward  Sarah’s  tent  and 
turns  toward  the  wilderness  of  Beersheba.  Very  soon 
the  curtain  lifts  upon  the  desert  scene.  The  water  is 
spent.  Hagar  places  the  child  under  the  scant  shade  of 
a shrub  and  lifting  up  her  voice,  weeping,  cries  out. 
“Let  me  not  see  the  death  of  the  child.”  At  this  crisis 
a voice  is  heard  from  heaven:  “Lift  up  the  lad,  I will 
make  of  him  a great  nation.”  And  they  dwelt  in  the 
wilderness  of  Paran.  and  his  mother  took  him  a wife 
out  of  the  land  of  the  Egyptians. 

The  actors  in  this  bit  of  jealous  family  discord  were 


24 


all  unconscious  of  their  place  in  history,  and  as  uncon- 
scious of  the  far  reaching  results  of  that  early  morning 
act  on  the  plains  of  Kadesh. 

The  years  go  by,  and  centuries  are  numbered.*  We 
find  the  fulfilled  promise  of  a “great  nation”  in  a peo- 
ple in  whose  veins  on  the  one  side  is  filtering  the  blood 
of  the  great  Abraham,  mingling  with  the  larger  propoi’- 
tion  of  the  idolatrous  Egyptian,  nomadic  in  habit,  with 
a genius  for  conquest,  with  a language  distinguished 
for  softness  and  copiousness,  with  a literature  of  great 
antiquity  and  high  poetical  merit,  dwelling  in  the  Pen- 
insula of  Arabia.  Of  these  people,  in  the  fifth  century 
of  the  Christian  era,  Mohammed,  the  founder  of  Islam, 
was  born.  A youth  of  great  sincerity  and  purity,  his 
domestic  life  with  his  wife,  Khadija,  is  as  beautiful  as 
could  be  found  among  a non-Christian  people.  But 
when  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  he  sets  himself  up  as  a 
prophet,  and  becomes  the  husband  of  eleven  wives,  we 
find  him  guilty  of  the  grossest  crimes,  robbery,  mur- 
der and  butchery,  which  rival  the  Emperor  Nero. 

Students  of  history  differ  widely  in  fheir  estimate 
of  Mohammed.  Was  he  a great  man  in  advance  of  his 

*For  38  centuries  the  evil  results  of  that  early  morning'  scene  have 

roilecl  on  with  ever  increasing  volume, 


25 


times?  Was  he  a genius  or  a monster?  Possibly  he 
was  all  three.  lie  was  certainly  a great  factor  in  his- 
tory. He  secured  the  faith  and  loyalty  of  his  country- 
men, abolished  idolatry.  His  slogan  was  “There  is  but 
one  God.  Mohammed  is  bis  prophet.”  He  gave  the 
world  a creed  which  has  been  a tremendous  force  in  the 
destinies  of  nations.  Cities,  palaces  and  temples  arose 
at  his  bidding.  For  twelve  centuries  the  teachings  of 
Mohammed  have  borne  fruit  in  human  lives — not  alone 
in  the  land  of  its  birth,  but  in  many  lands.  The  ques- 
tion that  interests  us  is  not  what  Mohammed  was,  but 
what  the  religion  he  founded  has  wrought  for  human- 
ity. 

We  turn  the  pages  of  the  Koran  with 

eager  hope  that  we  may  find  in  the 
writings  of  this  man  some  teaching  that  shall  lead  to 
the  uplifting  of  woman.  The  most  hopeful  word  the 
Koran  has  for  woman  is  in  the  second  chapter: 
“Whoso  doeth  good  works  and  is  a believer,  whether 
male  or  female,  shall  be  admitted  to  Paradise.”  The 
practical  exegesis  of  a woman’s  “good  works”  is, 
obedience  to  the  husband.  Without  that  good  work 
she  can  not  enter  Paradise.  Again  in  the  fourth 
chapter,  entitled  “Women,”  we  read,  “Men  shall 


26 


have  pre-eminence  above  women,  because  of  those 
advantages  wherein  God  hath  caused  the  one  to  excel 
the  other,  and  for  that  which  they  expend  of  their  sub- 
stance in  maintaining  their  wives.  The  honest  women 
are  obedient,  careful  in  the  absence  of  tbeir  husbands, 
for  that  God  preserveth  them  by  committing  them  to 
the  care  and  protection  of  the  men.  But  those,  whose 
perverseness  ye  shall  be  apprehensive,  rebuke  and  re- 
move them  into  separate  apartments  and  chastise 
them.”  The  degraded  and  degrading  practice  of 
scourging  and  beating  wives,  having  the  sanction  of 
the  Koran,  will  be,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  .Jessup,  “in- 
dulged in  so  long  as  Islam  as  a faith  prevails.” 

Note  the  polygamous  teaching  of  the 
Koran.  “Every  Moslem  is  allowed  four 
free  wives  and  as  many  concubines  as  his  right  hand 
possess”;  and  the  faithful  are  positively  promised  that 
in  Paradise  they  shall  have  seventy-two  houris  for 
wives,  besides  the  wives  they  have  here. 

According  to  the  Koran,  the  husband 
may  divorce  a wife  without  warning 
or  assigning  a reason.  The  husband  lias  only  to  say. 
“Thou  art  divorced.”  Even  life  may  be  taken  at  the 
will  of  the  husband.  Woman  is  practically  a chattel. 


Polygamy. 


Divorce. 


2? 


A Mohammedan  being  asked,  “What  is  the  price  you 
pay  for  a good  wife,”  replied:  “About  the  same  as  for 
a mule,  twelve  or  fourteen  pounds.” 

We  are  not  surprised  that  the  native  lands  of  Ethnic 
religions  have  no  word  for  “home.” 

„ . A polite  Mohammedan  would  not  speak 

of  his  wife  without  using  the  same  apol- 
ogetic formula  he  would  use  if  he  were  speaking  of  a 
donkey  or  a hog.  Indeed  so  vile  is  the  orthodox  Mo- 
hammedan’s idea  of  womanhood,  we  cannot  mention 
it  here. 

The  Koran  says  nothing  about  a woman’s  praying, 
therefore  she  is  excluded  from  the  Mosques  at  the  hours 
of  prayer.  Behold  a religion  that  practically  excludes 
one-half  the  human  race!  And  this  half  the  mothers 
of  the  race.  It  was  not  until  Mohammed  was  fifty- 
eight  years  of  age,  and  the  husband  of  many  wives,  and 
had  under  his  own  roof  experienced  what  the  Moslem 
women  of  to-day  declare,  when  there  is  more  than  one 
wife,  “there  is  fire  in  the  house,”  that  claiming  to  have 
a new  revelation  from  heaven,  he  wrote  in  the  Koran 
the  *“ ordinance  of  the  veil,”  that  badge  of  jealous 


•Koran.  24th  Suru. 


Mohammedan  Woman  in  Arabic  Costume 


29 


subjugation  which  marks  an  era  in  the  degradation 
of  women  in  all  the  Orient. 

The  regulation  costume  shrouds  the  women  from 
the  head  to  the  ankle  in  a cotton  or  silk  sheet  of  black 
or  white.  Around  the  head  is  tied  a yard  long  linen 
or  cotton  veil  in  which  before  the  eyes  is  a piece  of 
open  work  about  the  size  of  a finger  which  is  the  only 
look  out  and  ventilator.  Xo  part,  not  even  a hand  or 
an  eye.  can  be  seen. 

See  the  picture;  with  fearful  foot-steps,  with  no 
hope  in  man,  with  little  knowledge  of  the  “All  Father." 
no  knowledge  of  Him  who  said.  “Come  unto  me  all  ye 
that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden.”  for  twelve  cycling 
centuries,  an  unceasing  ghostly  procession  has  marched 
from  birth  to  death. 

‘‘The  whole  life  of  a Mohammedan  woman  is  mir- 
rored in  that  pathetic  Arabic  proverb.  ‘The  threshold 
weeps  for  forty  days  whenever  a girl  is  born.’  ” The 
spider’s  web  which  once  saved  the  life  of  Mohammed 
has.  as  by  the  hand  of  a Vxdcan,  been  forged  into  a 
chain  which  in  this  nineteenth  century  in  the  name  of 
religion  dares  hold  woman,  and  through  her.  200.000.- 
000  of  mankind  in  a singularly  hopeless  degradation. 

^Dennis’  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress. 


Mohammedan  Women  in  Algiers 


31 


Why  prolong  this  dreary  recital.  The  Teachings 
already  quoted  are  clear  and  conclusive.  The  cruel, 
brutal  degradation  of  women,  with  all  the  baleful 
effects  on  society,  is  not  due  to  race  or  environment 
or  accident.  It  is  the  legitimate  fruit  of  the  positive, 
not  inferential,  teaching  of  great  religious  systems 
which  for  centuries  of  time  have  held  their  sway  over 
millions  on  millions  of  people,  and  the  end  is  not  yet. 
Some  writers  of  eminence  have  so  emphasized  the 
philosophies,  traces  of  truth,  ideals  and  poetic  mysti- 
cisms, as  to  appear  as  apologists  and  defenders  of  all 
their  systems.  Such  writers  ignore  the  universal  fact 
that  the  family  is  the  basis  of  all  society,  ignore  the 
teachings  of  the  Ethnic  religion  about  women,  and  for- 
get that  there  is  no  place  for  the  little  child  in  any  of 
them.  In  the  light  of  a mother’s  power  the  status  of 
women  throughout  the  world  becomes  a subject  of 
paramount  importance. 

By  a conservative  estimate  more  than  one-half  the 
mothers  of  the  world  are  in  Oriental  seclusion.  Un- 
welcome at  birth,  married  in  childhood  to  men  whom 
they  have  never  seen,  with  little  love,  without  light, 
without  hope,  without  home,  without  God,  they  live 
their  lives  and  go  the  way  of  all  the  earth  leaving  to 


32 


their  sons  as  well  as  to  their  daughters  their  heritage 
of  degradation.  As  are  the  mothers,  so  are  the  people. 

There  is  no  need  to  compare  the  teachings  we  harve 
just  been  considering  with  the  pure  uplifting  teach- 
ings, by  act  and  word,  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  con- 
cerning women,  and  Ilis  tender  “Suffer  little  children 
to  come  unto  me.”  Each  reader  will  instinctively 
make  this  comparison,  and  hard  indeed  must  be  the 
heart  that  does  not  at  once  respond  with  a grateful, 
glad  Thankofifering  for  birth  in  a Christian  land.  A 
thankoffering  whose  service  shall  be  to  hide  the  leaven 
of  Christ’s  love  and  power  in  the  hearts  of  mothers 
who  sit  in  cruel  darkness. 

Does  any  one  doubt  the  divine  origin  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion?  There  is  one  all  sufficient  Christian 
evidence.  The  immeasurable  contrast  of  human  society 
in  Christless  and  Christian  lands.  “The  works  that 
I do  bear  witness  of  me  that  the  Father  hath  sent 
me.”  (John  5:36.) 


